The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to an electrical connector assembly and/or printed circuit board that electrically couples to signal conductors of a communication cable.
In some electrical connector assemblies, signal conductors from communication cables are terminated to an electrical connector by directly joining exposed wire-terminating ends of the signal conductors to corresponding conductive elements. For example, a wire-terminating end can be soldered directly to a corresponding conductive pad along a surface of a circuit board. To solder the two elements together, a solder paste is applied to the wire-terminating end and/or the conductive pad. The solder paste is then melted and cooled to directly join the wire-terminating end and the conductive pad. An electrical connection is established through this termination.
However, using a soldering process to join two elements at a termination can be undesirable. First, it can be difficult to control the different variables of the soldering process so that the wire-terminating ends and the conductive pads are consistently joined and so that a desired electrical performance is achieved. For instance, the soldering process typically uses large amounts of heat to melt the solder paste. Heating (directly or indirectly) the circuit board and/or the wire-terminating ends increases the likelihood of damage to the circuit board and/or the wire-terminating ends. Second, if several terminations are desired, the conductive pads are typically spaced apart so that the solder paste at one termination does not inadvertently join the solder paste at another termination. Yet increasing the space between the conductive pads may limit the number of possible terminations. Lastly, a soldered joint is generally permanent and is not readily fixable without desoldering and then re-soldering the two elements.
Accordingly, there is a need for an electrical connector assembly having a printed circuit board that is capable of electrically coupling to a communication cable without using a soldering process.